A mall for St Paul's

A multi-million pound shopping centre and office complex is to be built in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral.

The Corporation of London is processing a planning application for the £200million One New Change development, which has been designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.

Developer Land Securities describes the building as: "A new 220,000sqft retail destination over three floors, making it one of the largest consolidated retail spaces across central London.

"The development will also comprise approximately 340,000sqft of premier office accommodation."

The building will be in one of the most architecturally sensitive locations London has to offer - beside the east transept of Sir Christopher Wren's 17th-century masterpiece. However, its architect insists that the complex will "set up a dialogue" with the cathedral, not impose upon it.

The Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, the Greater London Authority and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment are all understood to have approved the design before the application was filed.

Mr Nouvel's glass building will comprise four sections to create new views of the cathedral for shoppers and office workers. A "significant" public artwork will sit at the centre.

The roof, which will include an open-air plaza and a viewing platform, is angled to prevent obstruction of cathedral vistas from other London locations.

Mr Nouvel is an internationally acclaimed architect who has never created a major building in London.

His most recent landmark design is Barcelona's Agbar Tower, which is reminiscent of our own "Gherkin" - the Swiss Re building at 30 St Mary Axe.

Mr Nouvel said: "The design of One New Change is about enriching the City with a new sort of modernity, one that reaches beyond itself to speak, to contemplate and to reveal the diverse character of its surroundings. It is a contemporary building which will set up a dialogue with St Paul's and the neighbouring buildings.

"The proposed design is calm and deferential to St Paul's Cathedral and provides a unique opportunity to bring the public into the site."

The design was chosen through an open architectural competition judged by a panel including Millennium Dome architect Lord Rogers and Architecture Institute director Rowan Moore, the Evening Standard's architecture critic.

If planning permission is granted, the three-acre site's existing red-brick building would be demolished.